Third Person P.O.V.
Kailyn Marsh had a secret that he swore to never tell. Kailyn Marsh was not his name. His true name was Kailyn Makai and he was the bastard son of late Emperor Elyon.
Unknown son from one of the emperor's many visits to the brothels. Son to a woman known only to the emperor as another pretty face. Son to the man that ordered every woman he slept with to be slaughtered and their families put to death to be safe. Son hidden in the woods, left to die only to learn that his mother had died instead.
When Kailyn got older, he swore to work alongside the Baylor's that killed the bastard that dared to take his mother. He swore to make her proud. He wanted to think that he did after becoming a Knight of Aena at the mere age of 26. With nothing to his name other than his own stubborn nature, Kailyn had worked his way up from the 3 year old orphan passed from family to family, living among the streets and begging for money, to a named knight guarding king and country.
But that all changed after only two years of service. When Kailyn was named Captain, a leader of his own troop of five hundred men, he learned a deep, dark secret of the Baylor's.
"Soran Makai, have you heard of him?" asked Grand Knight Lucar. He leaned against his desk, a deep mahogany beast in a burgundy room as deep as the blood of a battlefield. His wrinkled face was scarred and gray hair cut short atop his head.
Kailyn was likely one of very few that disliked being at the castle. He felt nauseous during every visit. There was something in the air that left a vile taste in his mouth. His stomach always twisted into a knot. His head would pound and hands shake. He couldn't explain it.
"Yes," Kailyn answered. "The vampire that lives at the Makai estate."
He stood tall before his leader, brown eyes focused and stern. Kailyn wore his own scars of battle beneath his armor. He was tall, muscular with a scruffy black beard that matched his hair. Kailyn held no contempt for his half brother knowing full well the boy was as much a victim of a poor excuse of a father as he was. However, he wasn't much interested in getting to know him either.
"Yes, the vampire that the public believes lives at the Makai estate."
Kailyn raised a brow. "Believes, Sir?"
"He never left the castle."
"I'm afraid I don't follow."
"As you know, thirteen years ago, His Majesty overthrew the dark priests. The cursed bastard was kept under heavy lock and key here in the dungeons, always watched. We could not risk the child growing stronger, but after many years we learned the gift of immortality is one he truly possessed."
Kailyn was no fool nor were the Baylor's. He knew what that meant and his stomach twisted into a painful knot at the implications.
"After four long years of attempting to be rid of him, he was finally put into a deep slumber. He has remained that way ever since."
"Why are you telling me this, Sir?"
"Because a group of Unborn have been spotted to the east, a hoard of them. His Majesty believes they may have more answers concerning the cursed creature's condition and wishes for you to take your troop to apprehend them. We mustn't have others looking into their research so I am entrusting this duty to you. Defeat the Unborn and bring their research here in hopes that we can finally end this cursed bastard." When Kailyn didn't immediately respond, Lucar asked, "Are you not up to the task, Captain?"
"No, Sir. I will see it done. You can count on me."
"Good. You leave in three days. Good luck, Captain."
"Sir." Kailyn left after a bow, but he barely made it to the courtyard before dropping on a stone bench.
"After many years we learned the gift of immortality is one he truly possessed."
Kailyn grew physically ill. Bile rose in his throat. He swallowed it back with a pained gulp. If what he was assuming were to be true, that meant the Baylor's ordered the torture of an innocent child. Kailyn understood the fear of the unknown. Humans feared change. Feared that which could not be explained. It was a natural reaction. Two vampires lived before Soran, one of which was known as a monster and another a wanderer, but Soran was a child. He did not ask for his condition. He was born with it.
Pain, did he feel it? All those years, alone, probably confused, was he in pain? Kailyn hoped not. He hoped a vampires condition resulted in no pain at all, but those were naïve thoughts. He knew they were.
"Son of a bitch," Kailyn growled. Like it or not, they were brothers. Soran was Kailyn's younger brother. How old would he be now? Nineteen. And how long had he slept? Nine years. So much time lost because of the decisions of others and a fate forced upon him.
"Son of a bitch," Kailyn repeated, swiftly standing to his feet. He didn't want to believe it, but it had to be true. It made sense. The closer Kailyn got to the dungeons the worse he felt and he started to understand why. Call it fate, call it family ties, but somehow Kailyn always knew and felt Soran's pained presence.
"Captain Marsh!" Shouted a guard on duty, saluting the captain when he descended the stairs to the dungeon. The first room was circular in nature with a table and chairs. Two guards were there, cards and coins on the table along with two pints. Their faces were slightly flushed, but Kailyn paid the looks no mind.
Attached to the circular room were two halls. They were carved into the darkness with even more halls reaching out like a spider web. Kailyn's nerves were on high alert, now more than ever, but it was the right hall that called out to him. The flames flickered in the consuming darkness that swayed.
"There's a prisoner I wish to speak to. I will be back momentarily." Kailyn held out his hands. "The keys."
"Right, yes, here, Sir!" The guard gave them over without question. Both remained still until Kailyn disappeared into the right hall. He had traversed the dungeons before, always unsettled and always passed it off as being underground. Now though, it was different. He knew Soran was not kept out in the open, but he followed his gut that led him deeper and deeper into the dungeons until he came upon a dead end.
"Help!"
Kailyn jumped at the voice. He spun around, the flame of his torch flickering as if touched by wind, but there wasn't a single draft. No doors were near, nothing but cold stone on either side.
"Please, help."
Kailyn faced the dead end where he swore the voice was coming from. Maybe not a voice, but rather a feeling. Deep within, he wanted to reach out, to rip away at the stone, to see what was beyond and pull it towards the light. But he didn't. He stepped back slowly, refusing to accept his conscience eating away at him as the voice began to echo even louder in his mind.
"Help! Help! Help! Let me out!"
"I can't," Kailyn whispered and, as if the voice heard him, he replied.
"Don't leave me alone."
Kailyn ran.
He dropped the torch, stumbled through the dark, barely left the keys with the drunk guards, and burst out of the dungeon doors into the sun. The light was meant to warm him, but it didn't. Nothing could. Not even late into the evening as he sat by a warm fire. That voice continued to echo in his mind. He knew who it was without having to see. When he closed his eyes all he could see was his younger himself, shivering in the snow on a street corner, whimpering out to any that passed him by.
"Help." His small hands shook. His lips were cracked. "Please help." None spared a glance.
Kailyn was no different. He could help, but he wasn't. He feared what would happen if he did.
"You can't," he told himself. He poured another pint of beer and chugged it in a single gulp.
"You don't even know the boy," Kailyn argued with himself seeing as he had no one else. No parents, no siblings, no partner, no children. He was alone in his home so talking out loud wasn't all that unusual to him. "He's locked up for a reason...although he has done nothing to prove he is deserving of being locked up--no! No!" Kailyn stomped his own foot. "You never cared about him before. You won't care about him now."
That was a bit of a lie. Kailyn was always at least curious. They were related, after all. Kailyn had no other family, neither did Soran. Sometimes he pondered over visiting the estate, but even he was more than a little apprehensive about meeting a vampire. He couldn't deny the few dark thoughts, that perhaps Soran was a hideous beast that would rip out his throat without second thought. That didn't change now either. Perhaps when Soran awoke he would do just that, kill Kailyn without question.
Or he could be completely innocent and Kailyn would be as much at fault as the executioner.
"Fuck!" Kailyn threw his mug across the room. It clattered to the floor. "Ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it."
♱♱♱
We've met Kailyn, Soran's half brother! He's pretty conflicted about what's going on. What do you think of him so far?